Life Writing: Writing About the Self and from Experience
COL 227
Spring 2024 not offered
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| This course may be repeated for credit. |
| Crosslisting:
WRCT 227, ENGL 228 |
This course will examine both the power and the complexities of writing that derives from personal experience. Topics to be addressed, in turn, are memory (and its reliability); experience (authoritative/reportorial vs. interpretative/symbolic); identity and voice of the narrator; and agency (the degree to which the narrator is in control, or not in control, of the narrative). Types of life writing that will be explored are coming-of-age narratives, illness and trauma narratives, confessional narratives, autobiographical poetry and song lyrics, and interviews/oral histories. Readings and materials include Shadd Maruna, William Styron, Mary Karr, Donna Tartt, James Joyce, and many others. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA COL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (COL)(ENGL)(ENGL-Creative W)(ENGL-Literature) |
Major Readings:
Readings will include (either in full or excerpts):
Paul John Eakin, HOW OUR LIVES BECOME STORIES: MAKING SELVES
Henry Adams, THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS
Richard Rodriguez, HUNGER OF MEMORY: THE EDUCATION OF RICHARD RODRIQUEZ
St. Augustine, CONFESSIONS
John Edgar Wideman, BROTHERS AND KEEPERS
Joan Didion, THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING
Esmeralda Santiago, WHEN I WAS PUERTO RICAN
George Plimpton, EDIE
Somerset Maugham, THE SUMMING UP
James Joyce, PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN
and selected fiction and nonfiction by William Styron, Virginia Woolf and Mary Karr.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Students will write three short pieces and one long piece of nonfiction deriving from their personal experience. Student writings will be presented and critiqued in a workshop format. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Email Professor Charles Barber at cmbarber@wesleyan.edu for instructions on applying for the course. Applicants will complete a short questionnaire and submit a writing sample of at least ten pages. Preference is given to COL majors and upperclassmen, but students majoring in other areas are encouraged to apply.
Contributes to fulfillment of ENGL major requirements: class of 22: can count for Special Topic in the CW concentration, Theory and Literary Forms concentration, elective; class of 23 and beyond: CW requirement, CW path course (but not upper-level workshop or 300-level), elective. |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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